Independent craft brewery Bridge Road Brewers is opening the doors to a pop-up bar in Melbourne on April 22 fitted out entirely from cardboard. 

Bridge Road Brewers – A Bar Made of Cardboard aims to redefine the pop-up by creating a zero-impact venue constructed from materials that are either recycled or can be 100% reused, recycled or composted. 

The ambitious project in inner-city Brunswick East has been built in collaboration with creative cardboard designers Boxwars and industrial packaging specialists Kebet Packaging.

From light fittings, shelving and signage, to every table and chair, the whole fit-out has been made with recycled cardboard expertly engineered to withstand the hustle and bustle of a craft brew bar. Aside from the beer taps, fridges, and the dishwasher, the bar’s interior is made from 100% cardboard. This cardboard itself is made up of a minimum of 75% recycled content.

The temporary inner-city offshoot for Bridge Road Brewers can host 60 people inside and outside. Open Wednesday to Sunday, the drinks menu features Bridge Road Brewers’ full line up of core and seasonal beers rotating across six bar taps. A wine list has been curated to showcase predominantly small wine producers from Bridge Road’s neighbours throughout Victoria’s High Country. Plus, small-batch spirits and aperitifs will be on offer including Barking Owl Gin and Beechworth Bitters Amaro from Provenance’s Michael Ryan.

Alongside a small snack menu featuring Chappy’s Chips and Mount Zero Olives, food trucks will park up on Friday and Saturday nights. An onsite bottle shop will offer takeaway beer plus a selection of Victorian wine and spirits.

The pop-up bar is a special prelude to Bridge Road Brewers’ second brewery and bar due to open on the same site in East Brunswick Village in December 2022. The new 350-capacity venue is being built in partnership with developer Banco and will be home to a 1000-litre brewkit.

Photography: Kristoffer Paulsen